VIA Biker Newsbrief: Motorcycle Awareness Month

OFF THE WIRE
News item: NHTSA wants to consider moving Motorcycle Awareness Month up to April, because bikes are already on the roads in most places. I think it's a good idea and what's confusing is that nobody considered this before. Why alert motorists to be aware of bikes a month "after" we hit the highway? Aside from this positive thought, there are some more concerning issues from NHTSA that we will discuss over the next few days here....

A bit of history here: Back in 2003 or 2004, riders in MA. approached the then Governor Mitt Romney with requesting that our Motorcycle Safety Month start earlier than May, because that year there were 53 deaths by May already!
For that reason, our Motorcycle Safety Month begins the last week in March, and goes through to the last week in April, under the acronym "Motorcycle Awareness Really Can Help".
At that time we tried to yank the ear of other MRO's to sway them to do the same! At that time it never went anywhere! People were happy enough with the fact that a "Motorcycle Safety Month" was even being proclaimed.
Now, fast forward to 2010, and stats show that there are a lot of accidents and specifically fatalities by May, and so the revisiting of the idea by NHTSA!
I think this is quite a prudent idea, and it would benefit all riding groups to back this effort!
And while we're at it, let's see if we can't get my dream fulfilled! The airing of a 30 second motorcycle safety piece during the "Super Bowl", the most televised and watched show on TV!!